1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to, but is not limited to, electronic devices, and in particular, to the field of electrodes.
2. Description of Related Art
In the current state of integrated circuit technology, one approach to memory design is the use of ferroelectric materials sandwiched between pairs of electrodes to form non-volatile memory cells. A ferroelectric material may be a polymer containing electric dipoles that may uniformly align under certain conditions such as under the influence of electric fields.
By forming a plethora of these memory cells, memory circuits may be formed. These circuits may comprise of multiple bottom electrodes laid parallel to each other in one direction and a second set of top electrodes laid over the first set of bottom electrodes and perpendicular to the first set of bottom electrodes. A ferroelectric layer is sandwiched between the bottom set of electrodes and the top set of electrodes. Memory cells are formed at each point where a top electrode crosses over a bottom electrode. This configuration results in a grid pattern of individual memory cells. The electric dipoles contained in the ferroelectric layer may uniformly align towards a single direction under the influence of an electric field, such as a field produced by intersecting electrodes that have been energized. The electric dipoles may maintain their orientations even after the electric field has been removed, thus making the memory cells nonvolatile.
When a memory circuit is formed in such a manner, they form a grid of memory cells. Multiple grids may be stacked one on top of the other to form a passive array of non-volatile memory cells.